


...I Love You

by EvilRegal579



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:07:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26294617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilRegal579/pseuds/EvilRegal579
Summary: Regina breaks her phone and needs a new one. Henry thinks it’s a good idea to encourage her to get a smartphone. This leads to interesting conversations that lead to interesting events. And when Regina doesn’t know text terminology such as idk, ily, and ttyl, well that ends interesting too.
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan
Comments: 10
Kudos: 156





	...I Love You

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic came to be from a post I saw on a SwanQueen fan page. It was a meme that was shared and immediately the ideas came flowing. I have been taking a little bit of a writing hiatus the past year due to lack of motivation and lack of inspiration. This is a one shot, but as you can tell by the word count, it’s not short. And I promise it is worth it. Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or any of its characters. I do not have a beta so all my mistakes are my own.

Regina sat on the couch in the living room, looking very flustered. She was glaring at her flip phone looking like she wanted to set the entire phone ablaze, turning it into a charred piece of nothing. She was trying to send a simple text, but the keys were not being kind to the former queen and were not typing what she was intending. Regina gave up and let out a loud groan, throwing the phone at the wall. “Worthless piece of junk!”

Henry was walking into the room with a bowel of popcorn, his eyes grew at the site of the phone hitting the way and landing in no longer one piece. “Hay, mom. Did the phone tell you something you didn’t like?” He chuckled at what he thought was hilarious.

Regina stood up, embarrassed by her behavior. She flattened her skirt and walked over to pick up the phone. Her heels clacking against the floor filled the quiet room. She picked up the phone. She looked at it and squeezed her hand around it, taking in a deep breath of frustration. She pinched her brow and looked at her son, completely disgruntled. “I can’t do anything on that thing. None of the buttons make sense, I can’t even check my emails. And why the hell do I have to push the same button multiple times if I want a different letter. It’s driving me crazy.”

Henry let out a chuckle. This caused Regina to raise a brow, looking at her son with her infamous Evil Queen scowl.

“Henry, don’t mock me or I will take away video games for a month.”

Henry stopped his laughing but was still side smiling at his mother, “Mom, how long have you been in this world? And yet you still don’t have a smartphone?”

Regina raised a suspicious brow, “I don’t know Henry…” she trailed off in thought as she processed her son’s words. “I don’t even know how to use those things. I’d probably mess it up anyways…”

Henry rolled his eyes, “Mom, you need a new phone anyways…” He pointed to the, no longer whole, phone in Regina’s hands. “You might as well get a smartphone.”

Regina sighed; she knew her son was right. But she didn’t want to admit that she was already nervous about getting the device that she had just smashed that she didn’t know anything about or even how to use. Now she was going to be getting an even ‘smarter’ device that she knew even less about and if she was being honest with herself, was actually intimidated by. Regina bit the inside of her lip and squinted her eyes at her son who was looking very excited about the idea of her mom getting a new phone.

“Fine! Let’s go phone shopping.”

“Yes!” Henry couldn’t hide his excitement and ignored his mom’s hesitant behavior. Henry loved going shopping for electronics, and this was the perfect excuse to go into his favorite store.

***

“So, Ms. Mills. What are you looking for? Would you like to get something android or iphone?”

“I have no idea what any of that means…” Regina looked towards her son with a look that said, ‘please help me’.

Henry quickly came to the rescue, “She’ll take the Samsung Galaxy S20.” She looked towards her mother confidently. “It’s the newest model and you’ll much prefer android over iphone. They last longer and they don’t break when a new model comes out. Oh and the charge? Lasts way longer.”

Everything that Henry said flew right over Regina’s head. But, she knew her son knew all about this stuff, so she trusted her son and just let him pick everything out. And Henry obliged to his duties well. 

The two brunettes browsed the store looking for a phone case and extra accessories, Henry even convinced his mom to buy him new gaming headphones. Regina’s attention was stolen as she passed by this beautiful phone case. The case was all black with bright red apples on it, the stems were gold, which Regina found was an excellent touch.

Henry came up behind Regina noticing her reaching towards something, “Oh, hay you found a case you like! Sweet, you ready to check out then?”

Regina chuckled, “I should be asking you that, you took long enough to pick out the perfect head phones. I don’t understand why it’s so important? I mean they are for listening do they have to glow too?”

Henry rolled his eyes, “Mom, it’s not all about the color, it’s also about the noise cancelling, and of course you can’t forget about the quality of the mic. If your team members can’t here you how are you supposed to properly manage a campaign.”

Regina chuckled and put her arm around her son. she didn’t understand anything Henry was saying, but he was happy and frankly that was all that mattered to her. They went to check out, Henry feeling very excited about going home to play with is new headset.

***

They finally made it home, even though Henry wasn’t sure for a second with how shocked his mom was when they were paying for everything. He was surprised that Regina didn’t rip out the man’s heart for saying how much everything was. Thankfully, he was able to talk his mother down and they were home at last. Henry placed all the bags on the dining room table and began to set up his mom’s phone, and of course there was the explaining everything to his mother, a process that was going to be slightly painful for the both of them. 

It took a while but Henry was able to set everything up he knew his mom needed. Of course it wouldn’t have taken so long if his mom didn’t ask him a question every two minutes to ask what something did or was. But he and Regina survived the adventure that was getting Regina Mills a smartphone. Regina had everything she could possibly dream up that she might need access to; She had pretty much everyone in towns phone number, her email was set up, apps were downloaded and set up and shown to her, with difficultly, how to use them. Henry was now very mentally tired and was ready to kill some zombies with his friends to release some steam. He kissed his mom’s cheek and left her with the phone. Hoping his mother didn’t break or set this phone ablaze.

Regina watched her son head upstairs, she picked up her phone and sat down at the table, crossing her legs in the same regal way she did everything.

_Hmmm…let’s see what’s so great about smartphones. Pinterest? What’s a Pinterest?_

***

“Regina? Henry? I’m here for movie night! Hello?” Emma hesitantly walked into the mansion. She knew Regina didn’t like when she just walked into the house. However, Emma had rung the bell multiple times and no one answered. This worried Emma because she was used to Regina taking no time at all to come to the door.

Ever sense Emma and Regina had taken the trip to Neverland to save Henry, they had come to terms that they needed to raise Henry together, not separately. It was healthier for Henry to see his parents be nice to one another, and even now be friends. It had now been a couple years since they had been back and even though Emma and Regina didn’t want to admit it, they were actually enjoying the time together. The three of them had movie nights every Friday and family dinners with the WHOLE family at Granny’s on Sunday’s.

As Emma slowly inched further into the house, hoping to not be screamed at for walking in without permission. She heard a weird sound that she had never heard before. Music. Loud Latin music echoed throughout the home. Emma tilted her head and followed the sound. She moved into the dining room and the went towards the sliding doors the led into the room next door. Emma slowly opened them and moved into the kitchen. The sight she saw warmed every inch of her heart. She felt this tug in her stomach. She ignored the feeling and pushed in down, way down.

What Emma had just walked into was the smell of perfectly made lasagna wafting through the air, while the sound of Shakira’s Waka Waka (This time for Africa) blared through the speaker above the microwave. Regina’s hips were moving with the beat, swaying her hips like she had been dancing salsa her whole life.

The rhythm of the song moved every part of Regina. She felt the lyrics in her soul. Shakira was one of her favorite artists and this song was the one song that no matter how she felt she could get up and dance. She moved with the music, sprayed the counter with cleaner to the beat and wiped with the beat. She moved from the counter to the island and swung the towel above her head, moving her hips flawlessly singing “This time for Africa!”

Regina jolted to a stop. Her heart raced and she felt like she was going to pee her pants for a moment, until she realized who had just scared her.

 _Emma_. Emma stood leaning against the door that separated the kitchen from the dining room, smiling wide and looking very smug.

“Wow…” Emma coughed to clear her throat, not fully knowing what to say. “Um, I didn’t know you could dance like that.”

Regina’s cheeks turned just about as red as the apples on her tree outside. “Um…sorry I learned about spotify…” Regina rushed over to turn off the music, but Emma stopped her.

“Wait, no. I love this song. Please don’t turn it off.”

Regina smiled, “Okay.”

“Need any help cleaning up?” Emma looked towards the dining room table to see the place settings out on the table but not set up. “Or maybe to set the table?”

Regina smiled and bit her lip, “You know what, I would love some help setting up the table.”

Emma nodded satisfied with how far they have come since the first time they met. She smiled and went to start setting up the table, “now turn that music up!”

Regina chuckled and went to turn the music up, now playing Shakira’s “Whenever, Wherever”

Both women immediately began to dance, doing their jobs to the beat of the music. It became so natural for them. Like this was just another day. If anyone walked in on them, they would have thought this was something that they did on a daily basis, no one would have guessed that not too long ago they were enemies that wanted to kill each other. 

***

“So, kid. How’s school going for you?” Emma smiled towards Henry as she took a bite of her favorite food in the whole world. Not that she would admit it to anyone.

“It’s actually going pretty good mom. I’m actually getting pretty good at math…”

Regina perked up at this, “way to go Henry”

“Good job, kid.”

“Thanks, moms.”

The three of them finished up their food. Henry went to set up the movie, while Emma and Regina cleaned up the dishes.

“You rinse, I load the dish washer?” Emma side smiled, knowing she was about to get attitude.

“I rinse every time…one day you will rinse.” Regina raised a brow and walked into the kitchen.

Emma wouldn’t call it a walk though, because when Ms. Mills wanted to be ‘petty’ (without realizing it of course) she walked with this sway in her hips that would make anyone swoon a little. And man did it make Emma’s heart skip a beat. The way those tight skirts squeezed and hugged in all the right places; it was torture to the eyes. Would Emma admit to staring at the brunette’s rear while she walked away? Absolutely not.

Regina and Emma placed the dishes in the sink. The tension between the two of them could be cut with a knife, especially when they were this close to one another. Both, though, completely oblivious to this feeling. All the two women felt were small tugs in their chests, with small butterflies in their stomachs.

Regina turned on the water and began to scrub the dishes, Emma always laughed at Regina for scrubbing the dishes before she placed them in the dishwasher. _The dishwasher works well, but not that well Emma. You have to get the stuff that’s stuck to the dishes or else you will be washing them more than once._ Emma would just chuckle, but Emma enjoyed finding out these cute little quirks about Regina. Made the used to be Evil Queen just slightly more human.

Emma opened the dishwasher and waited for her first dish. She moved over to the microwave and reached for the button to turn on the speaker. She reached into her back pocket, pulled out her phone and started her Spotify playlist. Regina wasn’t the biggest fan of it, Emma knew that, but Emma hoped that one day it would grow on Regina. And it was.

Emma bobbed her head to the beat as she moved towards the dishwasher, grabbing her first dish to put into the washer. Time moved slowly when Emma and Regina were together. Like they were the only two people in the world. It was like magic swirled around them with each movement, each breath. The music filled the air as the dishes were getting closer and closer to being finished. Emma glanced over. “Well I’ll be damned”

Regina looked at Emma shocked, “Emma, language.”

Emma laughed, “well, Ms. Mills, if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were actually enjoying the music.”

Regina rolled her eyes and handed Emma the last dish.

“I have no clue what you are talking about. Now, Miss Swan, I would like to go to sleep at some point tonight. So please don’t waste my time again this Friday with trying to make snacks like you did last time. I mean, really, you’d think that your stomach was bottomless or maybe you have worms.” Regina smirked and walked away.

Emma stood there speechless. Shocked. _I don’t have worms._

She ignored that Regina said no snacks and grabbed the popcorn and M&Ms from the pantry. She grabbed a large bowel from the cupboard, knowing exactly where everything was. The microwave beeped, and she began to poor the popcorn in, closely followed by M&Ms in the bowel. Emma smiled at the fact that Regina kept this stuff stocked. Regina always talked about how she didn’t like this stuff in the house, as she phrased it, nothing but junk. However, ever since Emma started coming over on Friday nights, it never failed that when Emma went into the pantry it was stocked with all her favorites, popcorn, M&Ms, chips, dip, all the things Regina swore she would never have in her house.

“Mom says that if you aren’t in the living room in two minutes she is starting the movie and forcing you to sit on the floor.”

Emma chuckled, “She wouldn’t dare!”

“You really wanna find out?”

Emma’s eyes got wide, “nope. Not really. Let’s go kid.” She grabbed the bowel and pushed Henry towards the living room.

Both of them quickly rushed to the living room.

***

Regina tapped her nail on the desk in her large mayoral office. It was Monday, Regina hated Monday’s. Monday’s consisted of catching up on anything she didn’t finish the week before, answering tons of emails that was sent over the weekend, and of course the obvious; the weekend was over. Regina had a really good weekend. Friday night had been filled with good times with Henry and Emma for Movie Night. Which Regina was still not used to the fact that she actually enjoyed the company of the blonde sheriff that use to fill her soul with hate. She surprisingly found herself missing the blonde from time to time. Was she actually starting to see Emma Swan as a friend? Even Sunday with the whole family had been enjoyable, now this was even more of a surprise to Regina. Brunch with the charming’s, Henry, Emma, and now she even had a sister. Of course she and her sister had a complicated past and they had worked really hard to get where they were. No mention so many things had happened in Storybrooke over the past couple years and now things were so different then when she had first enacted the curse. Regina actually had a family, people who supported her and cared about her. Hell, she even had good ole Rumpelstiltskin as family, that in its own was shocking.

Regina absentmindedly reached for her phone, unaware of her actions she scrolled through her contacts until she found Emma’s name. Before Regina could stop herself she was texting the sheriff.

_R: Miss Swan, I seem to be missing some paperwork. Any explanations as to where these might be?_

***

Emma spun her keys in her hand. Her denim and brown boot covered legs were propped up on the desk. Emma tilted her head back and groaned, she was bored. Emma sat up, legs falling to the ground with a thump, and picked up her phone. She swiped her screen to unlock it and began to scroll through her multitude of apps on her phone. Emma was thrown off by a small ding on her phone. She looked at the message that popped up. She tilted her head it was number Emma didn’t recognize, so she responded as any normal person would respond.

_E: Who’s this?_

***

Regina’s phone dinged. She quickly picked it up, happy for the distraction. She unlocked her phone and was shocked by the response she had received. She raised a brow and responded.

_R: Miss Swan, who else in this town would be asking about paperwork._

_R: And frankly, who else calls you Miss Swan._

***

Emma’s phone dinged. She picked it up and immediately let out a chuckle.

_E: Regina?_

_R: Yes, it’s Regina. Now where the hell is my paperwork_.

Emma couldn’t help but smile. Why did she find Regina getting flustered so hilarious?

_E: Why did your number change?_

_R: How the hell would I know…_

_E: You mean to tell me it’s your own number and you don’t know why it changed? Lmao_

_R: I don’t know why you are calling me a lame o, Miss Swan._

_E: Really, Regina? It means laughing my ass off._

_R: Oh. Well, then you could be a little classier._

_R: Maybe my number changed when I got a new phone? Is that normal?_

_E: Wait, back up… you, Regina Mills got a new phone? How did Henry convenience you to do that?_

_R: Now, what makes you think that Henry had to talk me into getting a new phone?_

_E: …_

_R: …I shattered the old one. And he said a smartphone would be better…_

_R: Don’t laugh at me._

_E: Who said I was laughing_

_E: Okay, I may have laughed a little._

_R: …_

_E: I’m sorry._

_R: No you’re not._

_E: Guess you’ll never know._

_R: Paperwork. Now._

_E: Oh come on Regina. Don’t be like that._

_R: Goodbye Miss Swan._

Emma shook her head and locked her phone. She opened her laptop and began working on the paperwork that she was so very behind on. Maybe one day she would catch up.

Emma reached for a folder and began to sign each page, one by one. She tried so hard to focus all her energy on the papers that lied in front of her, but chocolate brown eyes continued to fill her mind. She bit her lip unaware of her straying thoughts haunting her mind. Emma’s phone beeped and she almost fell out of her chair to pick it up. She steadied herself and unlocked it to see a disappointing notification. An email notification to tell her that she could receive 20% off at old navy if she made a purchase online by the end of the month.

Emma leaned back and chuckled at herself for being outrageously ridiculous. She slid her phone on her desk with a loud thump and continued signing paperwork, pushing any thoughts or feeling for the Mayor that sat across town.

***

Regina shook her head. What was she going to do with Emma Swan? Regina looked at her phone, questioning whether to send another message. She decided to just focus on the rest of her day and maybe, just maybe she will get that paperwork from Emma one day. Regina highly doubted it.

The rest of Regina’s day was spent doing idle tasks that made her hate Monday’s to begin with. _You know for a small town of fairytale creatures they sure require a lot of nonsense menial tasks._ Regina scrolled through her emails drumming on her desk while she tried so hard to get the blonde out of her mind. She opened one that particularly caught her eyes; “Petition to refurbish the old toll bridge.” Regina chuckled _, I guess I am the one that would have to sign off on something like that_. The old Regina would have denied the request just out of spite; today however, she was feeling generous. She responded politely saying that she thought it was a wonderful idea and would be happy to approve the request.

***

It was now a quiet Wednesday in Storybrooke and Emma and Regina hadn’t seen very much of each other. That was until something or rather someone strange, unsurprising to the small town, stirred in the middle of town. A motorcycle was heard strolling through town and parked in front of Granny’s.

A bright dark, beautiful purple bike was parked and turned off in front of the dinner. And the woman on that bike, well she was even more stunning. The mysterious woman lifted her helmet with a purple dragon printed on it, exposing dark black hair with a bright blue strand laced through it. Her hair was braided back tightly to keep the hair from blowing in her gorgeous hazel eyes that were perfectly painted with black eyeliner with grey and black eye shadow dusted over her eyelids. Her plump lips were painted with a red as dark as blood and the grin that she wore exposed pearly white teeth that were so straight she had to have paid a steep price at the orthodontist to have them be so perfect. She wore a tight, form fitting leather outfit that hugged all of the right places, the pants alone exposed an ass that would stop anyone in their tracks.

The stranger held her helmet in her hand and moved into the dinner and opened the door, causing all heads to turn towards the door. Regina sat at the bar laughing with Mary Margret next to her and Ruby behind the bar. Their heads quickly turned just like everyone else. Regina looked the woman up and down, completely taking in all of the woman that stood at the entrance.

Ruby leaned towards the two women at her bar, “who is that?”

“I don’t know but I’m about to find out.” Regina pursed her lips and glared her eyes till they were nothing but slivers. She stood up with only one thing on her mind, who the hell was the woman who just rolled into her town. She slid off her stool, smoothed her skirt out and walked towards the stranger, heels clacking every step of the way.

The stranger smiled and looked towards the woman who was walking towards her.

Regina stopped in front of the dark-haired stranger, “Regina Mills, I’m the mayor of this town. May I ask who you are and what you are doing in my town?”

The stranger chuckled, “very warm welcome, I see…” She cleared her throat, “I um, I’m looking for someone. Emma Swan, do you know her?”

“Y-you know Emma?” Regina tried to hide her shock, but as usual Regina wasn’t always very good at hiding her emotions when it came to Emma Swan.

The stranger smiled, “We kind of have a little bit of a history, sort of grew up together.” You could sense the complicated past that came along the with that sentence. She reached out a hand to shake hands with the woman in front of her. “The names Lily.”

Regina reached out a hand to accept the shake, “Welcome to Storybrooke Lily…” Regina’s voice was low and raspy. A voice all too familiar to the people of the town. A voice commonly used during the times of the Evil Queen. Regina stepped aside and allowed the woman to enter the dinner, but she was going to keep an eye on this Lily.

***

Across town Emma was deep into paperwork as per usual, of course she found it hard to concentrate with Leroy locked away in the cell in front of her drunk as usual going on and on about how she should let him out. Emma groaned, “I’ll let you out when you’re sober. You know the drill Leroy. This isn’t anything new for you. Why don’t you just take a nap.”

“Listen, sister, I just had a few drinks. What’s so wrong about that?”

Emma shook her head, “one thing to be drunk, another thing to cause trouble around town and even break things…so sit there and be good. Then when you’re sober, you are free to go. Just like always.”

Leroy slumped against the wall his bed was against and rolled his eyes. Suddenly there was a loud roar outside. Both Emma and Leroy looked up as if they would be able to see out the windows even though they were high up on the walls.

Emma stood up and grabbed her keys off the desk and her jacket off the back of her chair and ran outside yelling at Leroy on the way out, “Stay here!”

Leroy yelled after her, “like I have anywhere to go!”

Emma busted out the door of the sheriff station just as a motorcycle passed on the street in front of her. She tilted her head and ran towards the direction it was going. What was a stranger doing in Storybrooke? She asked herself.

It wasn’t long before Emma was finding herself in front of Granny’s staring at a motorcycle that seemed almost familiar. And yet Emma had never seen it before in her life.

Emma walked up the familiar steps to the dinner and opened the door with the bell ringing along with the creak of the door. At first all she saw was Regina, sitting at the bar. Then caught eyes for a moment and Emma couldn’t help but smile. Then she was pulled away from the chocolate eyes to eyes of someone who seemed only but a distant memory. _Lily._

Emma blinked a couple of times, shocked to see a face she never thought she would ever see again, especially not in her small corner of the world. Before she knew it Lily was quickly moving towards her, leaving her helmet in the booth she was sitting at.

“Emma.” The name came off Lily’s lips so softly as she was rushing to hug the blonde. She wrapped her arms around the sheriff.

Emma was so shocked it took her a moment to hug the woman back. She looked towards Regina as she slowly wrapped her arms around the toned figure. What she saw in the brunette’s eyes… _jealousy?_ Emma wrapped her arms tighter around Lily, “Lily, what are you doing here?”

Lily pulled away, still having her hands on Emma biceps, “well it wasn’t easy but I eventually found out where you lived and well here I am. I’ve been looking for you for years, been looking for this town.” Emma seemed confused as to how Lily knew about the town. “It’s a long story… but anyways… here I am and…Emma…here you are.”

Emma blinked a couple of times, “Here I am.”

Lily grabbed Emma’s hand and pulled her to the booth she was sitting at previously, “we have so much to catch up on.”

Regina hadn’t taken her eyes off the blonde and the newest addition to the town registry. As if there was a pull inside her making it almost impossible to look away from the events playing out before her. The only thing that pulled her from staring at the blonde was a sudden nudge from a certain brunette that sat next to her.

“Regina? You okay?” Mary Margret tilted her head and looked at the Mayor lightly with concern.

Regina shook her head, almost erasing the feelings storming her brain, “um, yeah. I um…I need to head back to the office.” Regina slipped of her stool, grabbed her bag and walked towards the door.

Emma couldn’t help but look up when she heard the familiar sound of heels against the floor. She watched as the brunette, with a one-track mind, walked out of the dinner and out on to the streets of the town.

***

_MM: How are you doing?_

_R: I really have no idea what it is you are referring to, dear._

_MM: You seemed pretty upset earlier. When Lily came to town?_

_R: You have it all wrong, I was simple in a hurry for a meeting._

_MM: Whatever you say… you know, you can always talk to me Regina. You know that, right?_

_R: I have to go._

Regina locked her phone and placed it on her desk. She bit her lip slightly, letting out a sigh. Regina was a mix of emotions, why did she care if a stranger came looking for Emma Swan? I mean hell, maybe she was even coming to take Emma out of town. And wasn’t that what she was always wanting? But that was the old her. That wasn’t what she wanted anymore. Now, did she actually want Emma to stay in Storybrooke forever?

***

****

Emma sat across the one person who she thought she would never in this lifetime or the next see again. Someone she had a very complicated relationship with. _Lily._

“Lily, what are you doing here?” Emma tilted her head.

Lily chuckled, “I told you already Emma, I wanted to find you.”

“Why go through all of that trouble to find someone? I mean hell, Lily. You know how complicated our past is. Why me of all people.”

Lily took a sharp breath in, “when I was a teenager. Shortly after we had our fight when I had gotten you kicked out of that house…sorry about that chore wheel…” Lily chuckled slightly at the nickname. Emma simply just raised a brow. “Well, someone came to me. Told me everything, who I was. Who you were, this town and the curse and just everything. of course I didn’t believe it at first. And then I did, with a little proof. And then I was angry, I was furious. At Snow and Charming. And even at you… but once I got over that I realized how our lives were always thrown together and how fate was always bringing us together. So, I searched, and searched for this town. Till finally, by fates once again. I was led here. I really don’t know how. But here I am.”

Emma looked at Lily and couldn’t believe it. But yet she did _…_ I guess this town was starting to wear on her. She was a believer whether she wanted to be or not. Emma moistened her lips with her tongue, her face softened when she looked at Lily. There was a lot of history there, but she couldn’t ignore the constant connection she had with her. And she was happy to see Lily, even if she wasn’t going to admit it. “Well, welcome to Storybrooke.”

***

**_Friday._ **

_L: Hay, Em. Any plans for today?_

_E: Well, it’s movie night._

_L: Oh, well isn’t that cute._

_E: I quite enjoy it, yes._

_L: Well then, can I come?_

_E: I’d have to check with Regina._

_L: Oh, I get the sense she doesn’t like me very much._

_E: Regina didn’t really like me very much to begin with. Humph, I mean hell. She probably still doesn’t like me very much. She can be a little rough around the edges but give her some time._

_L: Ok. I guess we will see._

_E: I’ll ask her. I’ll let you know what she says._

_E: Can I ask you a question?_

_R: Miss Swan, I am a little busy._

_E: Then why did you answer?_

_R: …_

_E: If this is because of Lily…_

_R: Now why on earth would she have anything to do with anything. Now Miss Swan, if you are going to ask your question, I do wish you’d get on with it already. Like I said, I’m busy._

_E: Oh, yeah. Um…I was wondering. Do you think Lily could come with me to movie night?_

_R: …_

_E: I mean…I understand if you don’t want her to come…_

_E: I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything._

_E: It was stupid._

_R: Oh for the love of god. Would you shut up. She can come. Now if that is all, I would like to get back to my work._

_E: THANK YOU!_

Regina locked her phone and held it tightly in her hand, she squeezed it tighter almost crushing it. She realized how tightly she was holding the phone and shook her head, letting her grip loosen. She pursed her lips and placed the phone on the desk. Taking in a deep breath the mayor pushed down the butterflies that tried to take over her stomach. Why was she letting the sheriff affect her this much? It was stupid, why was it such a big deal for Emma to bring someone to something stupid like movie night. For the rest of the day all Regina would focus on was finish her work for the day and any thoughts of Emma Swan was pushed deep down until it was just a blip in her mind.

***

_E: Lily where are you? I told you diner was at 6. We are all waiting for you._

_E: You know this isn’t really a good way to win over Regina…_

Regina sat at the end of her large dining room table. Place settings for 4, all perfectly placed. Lasagna hot, steam coming off the top, making the blonde who was staring at it desperately try to keep from drooling from the smell. Regina saw this and rolled her eyes.

“Miss Swan, please do refrain from drooling on my table.”

Emma shook her head out of a trance, “Oh, uh…sorry. I’m just hungry. I’m sorry…I really don’t know where Lily is. Can’t we just go ahead and start?” Emma went back to staring at her favorite dish once more.

“No Miss Swan. We cannot. When I invite people to my home to eat, I expect to eat together. We will wait until _Lily”_ Emma could hear the disgust on Regina’s tongue as she said the woman’s name. “comes to grace us with her presence. I mean, honestly I’m not surprised…she is friends with you. Of course she has no manners.” Regina scoffed.

Emma’s mouth gapped. She sat with her mouth wide for a second, completely shocked by the rudeness she was hearing. Henry sat across from her blonde mother, shocked to silence as well. Emma stood up, she wasn’t going to sit here and allow Regina to speak to her like this, no matter how far they had come. “I will not sit here and be spoken to like this. I mean, really, Regina? Are we really back to where we started? After all we have been through…but I guess I shouldn’t be so shocked.” Emma stepped away from the table and pushed in her chair. “Goodnight Regina.” She looked towards Henry, “sorry kid.” She turned and walked towards the door.

Regina wanted so desperately to take back her words, to stop the blonde from leaving. She wanted to stand up and scream at Emma to stop, to come back. She wanted to rush towards her and tell her she was sorry. But she was frozen in her seat, shocked by her own behavior. She had let her feelings get the best of her. And she didn’t even know what feelings those were. _Idiot_. That was all that ran through the brunette’s head.

Emma had reached the door and paused. She waited. What she was waiting for, she had no clue. Maybe she secretly hoped Regina would come after her. To no surprise to the blonde, the house was silent. She rolled her eyes and opened the door. She rushed out the door, slamming it behind her. One moment Emma was rushing down the steps of the mansion and the next moment she was running into a very firm and hard figure. _Lily…_

Emma groaned as she rolled over on the ground. She looked towards the person she had just smacked into. She placed a hand on the ground, getting onto her knees and pushing herself up off the ground with a soft moan caused by a sharp pain she felt in her hip.

Lily was rubbing her head as she stubbled up right. “Leaving so soon? Oh man, Regina’s food must not be as great as you made it sound.” She let out a chuckle.

This was Emma’s breaking point. She lunged towards Lily, grabbed her by the collar of her jacket and slammed her into the column of the large mansion they were in front of. “What the HELL is wrong with you? You dare show up 20 minutes late, without even the SLIGHTEST sense to send a text or pick up the damn phone and call. Then you deme it a good IDEA to insult the person who was nice enough to invite you into HER HOME. What the FUCK is wrong with you?” 

Lily’s eyes were wide as they stared into green orbs that were filled with only one emotion, rage. Lily had never seen Emma ever look like this before. Anger consumed the blonde. Lily could see nothing else as she held her breath. Scared to make any sort of movement.

Emma’s chest heaved as she pushed harder and harder into the chest of the woman she used to dare call a friend. “I used to think of you as a friend. My best friend. And all you ever do is waltz into my life and ruin everything that is good in my life. You are NOT a friend. You are selfish, ungrateful…” Emma didn’t realize she was leaning so hard against Lily, almost cutting off airflow, until she was pulled from her trance by a firm voice.

“Enough.”

Emma loosened her grip and stepped away from Lily. Lily bent down and caught her breath and looked towards her ‘savior’.

Regina stood at the entrance of her mansion; arms crossed over her chest. She looked towards Lily, “get the hell off my property.”

Lily stood there, frozen, slightly scared to move. She felt so guilty for the trouble she caused. She wanted to apologize, “Regi…”

“I said go!” Regina opened her hand as a ball of fire appeared.

This woke Lily right up; she was gone within a flash. Running down the street without even looking back.

Emma gained her composure and began to stumble off the Mayors yard.

Regina tried to move towards the blonde, Emma put up a hand and continued to walk away. Leaving without looking back.

***

Emma laid on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She had yet again let Regina Mills get the best of her. Why was it so easy for Regina to get her all riled up, to get so emotional? And no matter what she did or said she would still defend her. She would always defend her.

Emma’s thoughts shifted. She began to have thoughts of the very person she was currently mad at, only these thoughts made her smile. She remembered the time Regina taught her to use her magic. Then together they had used their magic to save _their_ son. Or the time they used their magic time and time again to save the town. Emile chuckled out loud at one of her earliest and also funniest memories of the mayor. The time that she was so angry with Regina that she ran all the way to the mayoral house with a chainsaw and cut down Regina’s prized apple tree. Which Regina thankfully was able to restore once she had her magic back.

Emma thought about it and when it really came down to it Regina has always been there for her. And sure she was rough around the edges, but Regina had faith in her. And that fact did not go one way, Emma was always there for Regina. They had been through so much together and but had worked really hard to get where they were now. Sure there was a time when they both wanted to kill each other, but slowly they started to grow on one another. _Regina Mills, you sure do know how to fill someone’s thoughts._ Emma chuckled at the thought.

Emma was pulled from her thoughts of the mayor by a light voice coming towards her, “Emma?”

Emma sat up to see Mary Margret coming up to her room. “Emma? What are you doing home? Henry texted… said you might need someone to talk to. Did something happen with Regina? Or maybe Lily?”

Emma chuckled, “of course he did.”

“You doing okay?”

“I’d rather not talk about it…”

Mary Margret thought for a moment then stood up from the corner of bed she had made herself at home on. “Okay, then let’s go out for drinks. I can text Ruby and the three of us can have a girl’s night?” 

Emma was about to say no, but Mary Margret was looking at her with those ridiculously pitiful puppy dog eyes and Emma couldn’t bring herself to say no. “Okay…”

MM glowed and rushed out of the room surely to grab her phone and text the waitress.

***

_Why on earth did I think this was a good idea?_ Emma stood frozen in place, main street under her feet and The Rabbit Hole in front of her. She bit her lip and swayed back and forth, rubbing her fingers together in the pockets of her tight-fitting jeans.

Emma was ripped from her thoughts at an unbelievably strong force slamming into her. “E-Emma! You ready to partay?”

 _Ruby_. Emma chuckled and turned to face the perky brunette leaning all over her. “Hay Rubes…”

Mary Margret was closely behind Ruby but clearly way less drunk, which was obvious with the way Ruby slightly stubbled and was a little too extra bubbly. MM chuckled and went to wrap her arm around Ruby which caused her to lift her weight off the blonde she was currently trying to take down with her wobbly self. “I thought you said you were only going to take a couple of shots as a pregame?”

Ruby perked up at the words shots and raised a brow. “Ayyyy, shots! Now there’s an idea! Shots, shots, shots, shots…” Ruby was now dancing towards the entrance of the bar wiggling her butt and grooving to a beat only she had in her head. “Everybody!”

Emma shook her head and turned towards the woman next to her, “well I guess someone should go in and supervise her.” Emma let out a small chuckle, only small though, because if anyone found out she was actually beginning to have a good time? Well that would just be catastrophic now wouldn’t it.

MM looked at Emma and tilted her head, she looked into green orbs with that ‘motherly’ concern Emma was all too familiar with. “Em, how you feeling?”

Emma rolled her eyes, “Mary Margret I thought this was supposed to be a distraction?”

MM shook her head as if she had forgotten that small detail and that shaking her head would somehow wake her brain up to the real purpose of the evening. “Oh, uh, right. Yeah. Come on. Let’s go inside.” The brunette began to wonder off towards the establishment, when she reached the door and turned around to see that the blonde had still not moved from the street she chuckled. “Emma? Are you coming?”

Emma took in a deep breath. _Here we go…_

***

Regina stood at the sink of her kitchen, a pile of un used dished stacked up on the counter. A now empty lasagna pan, a cutting board and a few other cooking utensils filled her sink. She stood with her hands gripping tightly to the edge of the sink as her head hung down, full of embarrassment and shame.

“Mom…” Regina was pulled from the thoughts tormenting her in her head by a small voice. She turned around to see her son standing in the entryway of the kitchen, leaning up against the door frame. He looked so much like his blonde mother in his stance.

“Everything okay, Henry?”

Henry looked down at his feet and began moving around and invisible piece of dirt with his toes. “Mom, why were you so mean to Emma?”

The words her son had just spoke cut the mayor through the heart. Why was she so mean to the blonde? “I…uh. It’s complicated Henry.”

Henry rolled his eyes. “Mom, it’s not complicated. You just don’t want to ask yourself any difficult questions. And maybe that’s your problem?”

Regina’s mouth gaped open slightly, her eyes turned to slits as she glared at her son. _He’s right._ She told herself this, but what came out of her mouth was nothing close to admitting that. “Henry, I know you’re upset. And that’s fine. But you do NOT get to speak to me that way. I still _am_ your mother after all.”

Henry crossed his arms on his chest and looked down, trying to hide his pout, “fine…whatever.”

Regina glared at him and pursed her lips, “I think it’s best we said goodnight.”

Henry rolled his eyes, “Fine. Goodnight…” He turned and slumped his shoulders, disappointment seeping through his pores.

Regina turned back towards the sink and tried to focus on one thing and one thing only, the dirty dishes in the sink. However, blonde hair and green eyes tried with all their might to force their way back into the brunette’s thoughts.

***

“Vodka tonic, please.” Emma looked back at the two brunette’s sitting at the booth they picked out, looking as if they were scheming about Emma. She rolled her eyes and turned back to the bar, knowing perfectly well that if she came back to the table without shots then they two women would send her right back to where she was currently standing. “Oh, and 3 tequila shots please.” The bar tender nodded and prepared the drinks.

Emma leaned on the bar, tapping her finger trying to keep thoughts of a certain mayor across town at bay. These past couple days had been so weird, Lily was in town for god knows what, her and Regina had taken 10 steps back, because of Lily she had to add. Oh, and of course one cannot forget how aggressively she had acted simply because Lily had insulted Regina. _What the hell is going on in this town?_ She asked herself this rhetorical question, knowing perfectly well the truth, but she would never admit it, no matter how many times deep chocolate eyes invaded her thoughts.

“Here ya go Emma, you ladies enjoy the drinks.” The bartender winked at her.

Emma smiled and gave a small nod, she picked up the tray of drinks and headed back to the table. The booth with the two women suddenly became full of joyous cheers as they saw that the blonde was carrying more than just a drink for herself. Emma rolled her eyes and sat the tray down and then moved to scooch next to Mary Margret.

Ruby immediately reached for a shot and moved it to her lips.

“Hay now, not yet.” MM quickly stopped the waitress and continued, “we have to toast first.”

Ruby frowned and sighed, her shoulders shaked slightly, “fineee, but hurry up…” She sounded like a petulant child.

Emma chuckled at the kid like winning that Ruby was currently letting out. MM held up her shot, the other two women followed suit, “here’s to ladies night!”

“To ladies night!” The other two women cheered along with the school teacher.

***

It didn’t take long for Emma to give in to the temptations of the night, or to be long gone as far as soberness was concerned. Emma was now stumbling back up to the bar for their 4th round of shots. She leaned against the bar for support, knowing that it was the only thing currently saving her from becoming a pancake on the floor.

“E-Emma…”

Emma furrowed her brows, recognizing the voice reaching out to her. She turned and faced the exact person she wanted absolutely nothing to do with today.

“Lily,” the woman’s name came out a soft growl and at the sight of the dark-haired women she could feel herself becoming more and more sober as if her body knew what was coming next. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I-I needed to talk to you.” Lily’s voice was soft but slurred with each word that left her lips.

Emma turned fully to face Lily, still slightly holding onto the bar, even if she was sobering up a little she was not completely sober enough to completely hold herself up at the moment. “You have some fucking nerve to show up here after the way you treated me, and especially the way you treated Regina! I mean fuck Lily, what the hell is wrong with you. To treat someone who went out of their way for you with such little respect. Now your drunk, which isn’t surprising since you stumbled your way to Regina’s earlier. Now go home, save yourself more embarrassment.” Emma rolled her eyes and turned back to the bar.

“Emma, please…I-I’m so sorry. I was nervous, I had a couple drinks. I didn’t mean to be late…please…” Lily moved closer to the blonde and reached out a hand to touch Emma’s shoulder.

Emma pulled away and glared at Lily, “Do not fucking touch me…” This got the attention of most people in the bar, especially Emma’s company. Mary Margret was about to stand up but Ruby pulled her back down. “You do not get to just come to Storybrooke like a fucking bull in a china shop and ruin everything. You know, things were _fine_ before you showed up.” Emma stood now with her arms crossed over her chest. Furry filled every inch of her body. She pointed with her whole arm towards the door, her eyes looked like they were filled with fire. “Just go the fuck home Lily.”

Emma turned back to the bar once more she held up a finger to catch the attention of the bartender, who faced her and lifted up a chin to let her know he was listening, “you know what make those shots a double and add a couple more each.”

Lily now had tears swelling up in her eyes, “Em, please… I-I don’t know why things always get so bad. I have such bad luck. Please, I never meant to hurt anyone…”

Emma turned, this time not holding back anymore or trying to be gentle, although most wouldn’t see how her previous words were gentle at all. “Lily GO THE FUCK HOME! I don’t know why you can’t get it into your small fucking brain that I do NOT want you here. Why the fuck did you even look for me? Just move on with your miserable life and go!”

Lily was no longer holding back her tears, they fell heavy down her cheek as she felt her heart slowly breaking. “Emma, I’m so sorry. I…” Her sentence fell off.

“You, you what? What else could you possibly have left to say?” Emma’s eyes were red with anger. She was sick of having this conversation, she grabbed her drinks that were now prepared and walked back to the table where her friends were watching with bated breath almost falling out of their seats.

“Em, are you okay?” Mary Margret said quickly as Emma placed down the tray loudly, causing the alcohol to spill from their containers.

As quick as the tray ended up on the table was as quick as two shots were being slung back by the blonde standing at the booth. Her friends stared at her with concern, worrying not only about her mental state but also the affect that those strong drinks would have on her liver.

Emma was pulled from her reaching towards her next shot.

“You cannot just walk away from me… not after everything we have be through. I need you to hear me.”

Emma took a deep breath and turned around looking into bloodshot eyes staring into her soul. “Look, I am going to say this once more. You are not my friend. You have done nothing but ram your way through my life. You have ruined everything good in my life. And now you have caused friction with the one person I have worked so incredibly hard to build a relationship with.” This caused the two brunettes to exchange knowing looks at the choice of words.

“I tried to hear you out, I tried to give you another chance, Lily. You fucked it up. You ruined your chance. Guess what? It is done. It is over, you need to leave this town and forget it ever existed. Because I am done Lily. I am done with the pain you have caused me. I am not going to let you tear away another person I love…” Emma thoughts trailed off as she shook her head and stared into the woman’s soul standing before her looking like her heart had just been ripped out of her chest and Emma was holding it in her hand ready to crush it. Emma was caught off guard by that last part. Love? Did she just admit to herself that she loved Regina? She pushed she words down and focused on the woman in front of her.

Lily’s shoulder fell, she felt crushed. Did her childhood best friend, the one she had searched years for, just say she was in love with someone else and wanted nothing to do with her? Leaving her crushed in the middle of a bar in an unknown town. “but…but what about _my_ feelings? Do you not care at all about them? You still don’t know why I’m here…why I’ve been searching for you for so long. Do you care at all about our history? If you want to just throw that all away, then fine. Be my guest but are you not at all curious as to why I am even here?”

Emma wanted to lie. To say she didn’t care. But truthfully she did care. Why had Lily worked so hard to find her? “So…what is it then? Why are you here?”

“Em…Emma, I love you. I always have. Since we first met. You’re my best friend, I know I haven’t always been the best friend in the whole world, but I truly care about you. And I truly want to try and make it work…I came here to see if I could try and make things work out. And god Emma. God this is not at all how I planned for things to go. Jeez, are you really so blind that you couldn’t see that I have always had feelings for you?”

Emma took in a deep breath. She didn’t realize Lily’s feelings. Did she feel bad? Sure. However, she did _not_ feel the same way. She never had. Emma couldn’t forgive Lily, no matter how Lily felt about her. Lily had caused her too much pain, had ruined too many good things in her life. And now Lily might have even caused her to lose someone she had worked so hard for years to build the relationship they had. They were making such good progress. They were actually friends. And now, Emma was worried she had ruined it. That she had lost Regina. And it was Lily’s fault, again.

“Lily…I am sorry. But I don’t have feelings for you. I have feelings for someone else. Not you, never have.” The words were like daggers, empty and cold daggers.

Lily’s eyes filled with tears, she held them back as best she could, “Regina…I see. Well, I…uh…I’ll just leave then. I…uh…um.” She cleared her throat still trying to hold back the tears fighting their way to release from her eyes. “I will leave tonight. Sorry to ruin your life…goodbye Emma.” She let her hands her clap against her legs, she gave a small bow and began to walk away.

Emma quickly turned back to the table and proceeded to consume every single shot that was on the tray. The two brunettes looked at her, now very concerned.

Mary Margret moved closer to Emma, “um, uh…Em, maybe that’s enough alcohol for the night?” She reached up and tried to push Emma’s hand back down to the table

Emma yanked her arm away, spilling almost the whole shot and glared at her, swaying a little. “I will quit when I want to!”

***

Regina tossed the rag she was using to dry the dishes onto the counter. She turned and headed to her office to try and wash away her frustration. Nothing her cider couldn’t fix. She walked up to her make shift bar and reached down to open the cupboards that held her decanter of cider. She squatted, frustrated that she didn’t find the container right away. It was usually up at the front, especially since it was basically the only thing she drank. She stood up quickly finally realizing why she couldn’t find it. Bedroom. She had completely forgot she had a late night a couple nights ago after a long day.

Regina bent down to close the doors and moved towards the stairs, she climbed up the stairs and moved into her bedroom. Immediately she spotted the decanter with her cider in it. She smiled and leaned against the door frame and reached down to take off her heels. She moved her toes against her carpet trying to relieve the pressure she felt rushing to her feet. After a long day her feet would eventually go numb but the moment she took off those heels her blood would rush towards her feet and rubbing them against the carpet always gave her relief.

Regina walked towards her walk-in closet and opened the door. She reached her hands behind her back and began to slip her zipper down her backside. Her tight black leather pencil skirt loosened and she let it fall to the ground. Next she was reaching for her leather jacket, moving it down her shoulders. Once it was off she shook it a little and reached up to grab a hanger. She applied the jacket to the hanger, making sure it was on there where it would not slide off. She hung it back up and was next reaching to the hem of her silk shirt, she lifted it smoothly over her head and tossed it into the laundry basket she kept in her closet for convenience. She then bent down to pick up her skirt and toss it into the basket along with her shirt. She ran her hands through her hair after it fluffed from bending down.

Regina was a very habitual creature she had a routine for everything, even her bed time routine. Her bed time routine was similar to most people; take off clothes from the day, get into a silk nightie, go to bathroom to wash face and brush teeth, then move into her bed to settle down for the night. She usually would sit up in bed and have a couple of glasses of cider while she read a book.

However, tonight her routine was somewhat changed when she heard a chime from her phone as she was pouring her cider. She picked up her phone and pursed her lips, the one person she did not want to hear from tonight. _Emma._

***

“Emma, it’s time to go home…” Ruby stood up to try and guide the blonde to the door.

Emma lifted her head slowly and looked into Ruby’s eyes. “She doesn’t feel the same way does she?”

Ruby furrowed her brow softly, with concern in her eyes, “I don’t know Em…maybe…you two have gotten pretty close lately. Anything is possible…”

Emma frowned. “Yeah…” Emma leaned into Ruby, implying she needed help to stand. “Okay, home now…”

Ruby nodded and the two brunettes helped the blonde leave the bar and go home.

It didn’t take long for Emma to get cozy in bed once she had her garments the way she wanted them. The brunettes were nice enough to take off her shoes but there was a moment of Emma trying to convince them to help take off her pants as she struggled with the buttons that crossed a line for the brunettes. Ruby and MM had just chuckled and walked out of the room, closing the door behind them.

Emma glanced over to her bedside table and noticed that her phone had been placed there all nice and plugged into its charger. She smiled and grabbed it. She scrolled until she found the name she was looking for. _Regina._

***

Regina unlocked her phone and read the message the blonde had sent.

_E: You awake_

_R: Yes, but frankly Miss Swan. I’d rather not talk to you right now._

_E: I…I sorry_

_R: For?_

_E: Fo include Lily in move night plans…_

“She’s plastered. Great.”

 _R: You’re_ _drunk aren’t you?_

_E: Pshhhh. I do n ot knw what yo mean…_

Regina couldn’t help the slight chuckle that escaped.

_R: You should get some sleep Miss Swan. Maybe we can talk tomorrow?_

_E: But… I wwant to tewl yous some thjn g_

_R: This isn’t the time Miss Swan. Goodnight._

_E: Fne, but ik stk thik ou pret y_

_E: Tomoprwa then?_

_R: Tomorrow._

Regina place her phone back on her night stand and sucked in her top lip. Emma seemed to be having a hard time, why was she so drunk. And did she try to tell her that she thought she was pretty? _No, it was just a drunken text and it wasn’t even coherent. It wasn’t that at all._

Regina closed her eyes and sucked in a breath and let out a sigh. Everything was messed up. She had been working so hard on her relationship with Emma. And now here she was with an angry kid, and what seemed to be hurt Emma, and a hurt heart herself. She didn’t understand, why did she have to invite Lily, everything would have been fine if it wasn’t for that bitch.

Regina shook the thoughts from her mind and poured herself a heaping portion of cider and suppressed anymore thoughts of blonde hair and green eyes.

***

Emma stirred awake, blinking a couple times to orient herself to where she was. Even if it was familiar to her. She squinted at the bright lights shining through her windows. That’s when she felt it, the raging pain that hit her head like a ton of bricks. She groaned and placed a hand on her head, trying to rub for some relief. She sat up on the edge of the bed, she looked on her bedside table and noticed a note, a glass of water and two Tylenol tablets and her phone. She picked up the note and smiled slightly

_Em. Please hydrate and take these. I know you are hurting right now. It’ll work out. Have hope._

_MM_

Emma tossed the note back onto the table and looked towards her phone. Ignoring the headache relievers. She unlocked it and tilted her head at what exposed itself.

 _Regina._ Why did she text Regina? She began to scroll through the conversation and winced painfully at her text exchange with the mayor. She got down to the end of the conversation and bit her lip, did she really drunkenly tell the mayor that she was pretty. _How embarrassing._ She read back over the text exchange. Wait she was supposed to have a conversation with Regina today. This was not good.

Emma sighed and thought about bailing, say she didn’t feel good or something. She groaned and put her head in her hands, _damnit_ , she wanted to make amends with Regina. To make amends and get back to the way things were before _Lily._ Well, she was going to have to get over the fear and simply talk to Regina. She groaned and reached for the tablets, throwing them back with water as a chaser. She closed her eyes and wished for the hangover to fade.

Emma stood up and walked to a laundry basket on the floor, she picked up an item of clothing and pulled it up to her nose. _Were these clean or dirty? Oh, definitely clean. Dang, Mary Margret sure has good taste in soap scent._ She dug through the basket to find a new pair of boxer briefs, tight jeans (of course they had to be tight) and a white tank to go with her red jacket.

Once she was dressed she grabbed her phone and shot a quick text.

_E: Granny’s Diner for lunch?_

Regina didn’t reply right away. Or at all. Emma was worried that maybe Regina was having second thoughts about talking.

Emma pushed down her worry and grabbed her keys and headed downstairs to leave to grab some coffee. She was thankful that her roommate was already gone so she didn’t have to answer any questions she wasn’t ready for. She opened the front door and headed to Granny’s for some amazing hangover breakfast.

***

Regina blinked awake and groaned. She felt a pain in her head and turned to look at her night stand. _Oh man, I had more drinks than I had intended to._ The decanter of cider was almost empty. She moved to sit up on the side of the bed with a groan. Her head thumped with the beat of her heart. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and took in a deep breath.

She reached for her phone and unlocked it, seeing that she had an unread text. _Emma._ She tried to hide it, from who she didn’t know, but the corner of her lips tugged and she was smiling at the name that popped up on her screen.

 _Shit._ Emma had texted hours ago. How long had she been asleep? She glanced at the time. It was almost _NOON_. Regina’s eyes bulged at the sight of the time. She had never slept that long in her life. _Man, that cider sure did a number on me._

She immediately began to type up a message. She really hoped Emma wasn’t worried about her or thought she didn’t want to talk.

_R: Lunch at Granny’s would be great. Over slept, how about 1?_

***

Emma was sitting on a park bench with Henry when suddenly her phone chimed. At first she wanted to ignore it, but her son could see she was itching to answer it.

“Mom, it’s okay. You can see who it is.”

Emma shook her head, “it’s okay. I’m spending time with you. No distractions.”

Henry chuckled, “mom we are talking about comic books and our favorite Netflix shows. It’s okay mom. What if it’s important? What if it’s…” Henry trailed off. He wanted to say Regina. But he wasn’t sure how Emma would react to the sound of his other mother’s name.

Emma rolled her eyes, “alright kid. You win.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. _Regina._ So, she didn’t hate her, and did want to talk. Emma side smiled. Not wanting her son to see her smile over a text from Regina. She shot a quick reply and went back to her conversation with her son.

_E: See you at 1._

***

“Hay, Em. You hungry?”

Emma looked up at the brunette leaning on her table. “Hey Ruby. How are you so perky? My head is still pounding.”

Ruby chuckled, “well, that’ll happen when you have 12 shots of tequila. Especially when 9 of those are double. I mean honestly Em. I’m surprised you’re alive.”

Emma’s cheeks flushed, embarrassed about her behavior. “Jeez, that many? Please tell me I didn’t say anything stupid…” Emma chewed on her bottom lip, waiting for a response.

Ruby scrunched up her nose and tilted her head to the side. “Do you really wanna know?”

Emma’s heart raced, what on earth did she tell Ruby?

“Oh, hello Regina. Did you need your standard salad to go?”

Emma blushed at the mention of the brunette’s name.

“I’ll actually be having my salad with Emma today.”

Ruby smiled a cheeky smile towards Emma, “oh well, lovely. Em? You want your usual as well?”

Emma swallowed and nodded. “Uh, yeah. Thanks Ruby.”

Ruby nodded and walked away.

Emma looked towards Regina and gave her a half-baked smile. “Hi.”

Regina smiled, “Hello. Now what is it you would like to talk about?”

Emma swallowed and took in a deep breath. “I…uh.” She cleared her throat. And then cleared her throat again.

“Miss Swan I do wish you would get on with it.”

Emma sucked in a breath, “right, right. So um, about last night?”

Regina looked down, “I’m sorry for being so rude to you. I…I was frustrated and I took it out on you. That was rude of me.”

Emma was relieved that Regina didn’t bring up the text exchange. Emma chewed on her bottom lip and furrowed her brow. “I should never have invited Lily.” Emma looked down and twiddled her thumbs. “She…she uh always…well let’s just say that when Lily is around. Well things tend to go wrong.”

Regina was silent for a beat, looking down at her hands, “Why was she here Emma?”

Emma looked up, chocolate eyes met green. Why was she asking about why Lily was here? Emma asked herself. Gears turning in her head. Should she tell Regina the truth? Or should she keep it hidden? Lying would send them back a few steps. More than they already were.

Regina could see Emma’s mind turning. Could see pain in those beautiful green eyes. Did she just call Emma’s eyes beautiful? No, couldn’t have. She internally chuckled. She could see the blonde twiddling her thumbs. Oh how desperately she wanted to grab the blonde’s hand and rub her thumb across the top. A soothing way to tell the blonde it was okay. Whatever it was she had to say.

Emma looked up. Regina’s eyes were kind. They had no hate in them whatsoever. Was that possible? Were they truly still friends even though they had fought just yesterday? Could she really be honest with her about why Lily had come? Maybe honesty was the best thing to do in this situation. “Lil…”

“Alrighty, house salad. Dressing on the side. And a cheese burger, extra fries. And a glass of un sweet tea and a nice cold coke.” Both women were suddenly pulled from their thoughts as food was placed in front of them.

Ruby looked towards Emma that said, _I’m sorry._ Ruby stood back up and smiled to the two women. “Enjoy.” The way she said it was very cheeky. And caused both women to turn a little red.

Regina decided to break the tension first. “Miss Swan, how do you manage to stay in the shape you are the way you eat?”

Emma raised a brow, “in shape, huh? Didn’t realize you noticed my shape.”

Regina blushed, _shit that was the wrong way to break tension. Idiot._ “I uh. I mean…” Regina sighed. She gave up trying to hide, “yes Emma. I have noticed your shape. You are in very good shape. It shows. I _do_ have eyes Miss Swan.”

Emma chuckled. _If I didn’t know any better I’d say she was flustered._

“Now, you were saying something about Lily? You know, before our food came?”

Emma swallowed, _okay back to the hard stuff I see._ Emma took in a sharp breath. “Well…Lily was searching for me because apparently…well it seems that she had feelings for me. And well, I guess she wanted to see if I felt the same way…” Emma looked down and ate her fries nervously.

Regina moved lettuce around her plate. More than anything she wanted to ask the obvious question. _Do you have feelings for her?_ Regina wouldn’t admit it to herself. But she was scared, scared of the answer. What if the answer was yes?

Emma looked at the brunette, moving salad pieces around in circles. Regina almost looked worried. What was she worried about? Emma closed her eyes slightly and looked up to meet eyes with the brunette across the table from her. She felt something looking in those chocolate orbs. Something she had never felt before when she looked at Regina. Something her family was always talking about but she was always skeptical. Hope. She felt hope in the brunette. Hope that they may have actually found something in each other that they never had before.

Emma made eye contact with Regina once more, “I told her…I told her I had feelings for someone else.”

Regina tilted her head, shocked to hear that. She was hoping she said no to having feelings for her, but feelings for someone else. Well now that was a shock. “oh, I see.”

Emma sensed a small amount of pain in the brunette’s eyes. Did she not realize that _she_ was who she had feelings for? Emma looked at Regina with soft eyes, almost as if they were staring right into the other woman’s eyes. “Regina…um the other person is you. I have feelings for you…”

Regina looked down and smiled, then looked back. Were those tears building up?

“Regina? Are…are you okay?”

Regina looked up and smiled. “Yes, Emma. I am perfect.”

Emma smiled.

***

**6 Months later**

_R: Emma, dear. You know you may be cute, but I still need that paperwork finished by today._

_E: But, gina…_

_R: Emma, I swear…do not sass me._

_E: Whatcha gunna do about it, Madame Mayor?_

_R: Miss Swan, I advise you watch yourself._

_E: Yes, ma’am._

_R: Oh lord. What have I gotten myself into?_

_E: I personally think a very exciting life._

_R: Oh, how I wish you could see my eye roll right now._

_E: You could always come over here and show it to me?_

_R: Now I know you have lost your mind. You know that I have to work._

_R: Goodbye…Emma_

**_Later that day_ **

_R: Henry have you see my address book? It had an email of someone I needed to contact for work._

_H: idk. Ily. Ttyl._

_R: Um…okay then._

“Emma?” Regina looked up from her phone and saw her girlfriend tapping around on her phone with her feet on her desk. Making herself right at home, of course she did spend a majority of her time at the sheriff station so I guess it was kind of like her home a little.

“Why must you always put your feet on things?” She rolled her eyes as she put her phone in her purse.

Emma chuckled, “I mean it is my desk…yes finally beat that level.”

“So, Henry hasn’t seen the address book. Maybe I left it at my home office. I’ll head back to check.” She walked over to the blonde and bent down to kiss her. “See you later babe.” She began to walk off when she stopped and moved back into the room. “Hay, um what does…” she paused to pull her phone out of her purse. She opened the text from Henry. “what does idk. Ily. And ttyl mean?”

Emma continued to tap on her phone, she never looked up once and replied, “idk. I love you. Talk to you later.”

Regina rolled her eyes, “nevermind, I’ll ask Henry.”

Emma looked up from her phone, “woman…”

Regina was almost out of the room when she peered around the corner, “oh, and Miss Swan.”

Emma looked up once more from her phone, “I love you too.” Then she was gone.

Emma looked at the empty space that once contained her girlfriend, her mouth fell open. Did Regina Mills just tell her, Emma Swan, that she loved her?

***

Regina opened the door to the sheriff station and paused. Did her and Emma really just exchange I love you. She decided to go ahead and relieve her shock by texting her son to figure out what those letters he sent meant.

_R: Hay, what did those letters mean?_

_H: I don’t know- idk. I love you- ily. Talk to you later- ttyl. I can’t believe you didn’t know this mom. They are so basic._

Regina’s mouth fell open. She had just told Emma she loved her. But Emma didn’t actually tell her she loved her. She was actually answering her question. _Oh no. oh no._ Regina was so embarrassed. What if Emma thought things were moving too quickly? This was not good. Regina leaned her head against the wall. What was she going to do? She forced herself to move and started to cross in front of the sheriff station door once more, heading towards her home.

***

Emma had her feet firmly on the ground now. She had her head on her hands as she looked down at her desk. Her hands were pushing her blonde hair out of her face. Did Regina really love her? Or was it simply because she had said it first. Of course she was just answering a question. Not that she didn’t mean it. Hell, of course she loved Regina. She had loved her for years now. However, this was the first time she was actually hearing it come out and admitting it was true.

“I have to have a conversation with Regina.” Emma grabbed her keys and headed out the door.

***

**_Bam!_** The two women had just collided into one another, causing both women to now be on the ground in front of the station. Emma laid on top of Regina, both groaning. Emma winced as she made eye contact with the brunette.

Regina looked up at the green eyes staring down at her and the mop of blonde flowing down over the woman’s face. Regina ignored the small pains she was feeling and started to laugh.

Emma tilted her head and then lost it. She began laughing along with the brunette. “Are you okay?”

Regina nodded, “yeah. I’m okay. So did you need something? You were moving pretty fast?”

Emma’s cheeks flushed. “Do you really love me?”

Regina’s cheeks flushed. “Ah, I realize now that you responded the way you did because of the question.”

Emma huffed, “that wasn’t an answer.”

Regina blushed harder, “Emma…”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

Emma let out a sigh of relief. “I love you too, Regina.”

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I hope you enjoyed because man did I have a lot of fun writing it. I know that I have been MIA and I apologize. I have been so busy and had such bad writers block. But I did post my last chapter to Hidden Secrets and then I actually have a couple other story ideas that I’m working on. So, I hope that you enjoyed and will continue to enjoy anything else I post. Thank you for reading. Till next time!


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